My Leo -cont.

​As the weekend progressed, things evolved.  Leo’s ear got worse.  My youngest got sick with the flu, and his asthma reared its ugly head, a rare event now days.  Of course, being a rare event, I did not have most of the medication on hand, nor any up-to-date prescriptions.

By Monday morning I was facing a clusterfuck of problems (excuse the French, but hey...)
My oldest had a specialist appt to attend in the afternoon, my youngest was rushed to the Dr for prescriptions, and was soon put on three different meds.  And my darling Leo, well: ‘If you want to bring him in for his ear this afternoon, do so, otherwise we’ll see him tomorrow morning.

‘How’, I asked Ben.  ‘I can’t be everywhere at once.  Who do I cancel?’
Leo had to wait.  My eldest got to his appt.  My youngest was happily doped out in front of his phone in bed.  The girls got tended to somehow, in and amongst everything else. 

I then turned my attention to preparation of tomorrow morning’s events.  Getting Leo to the vet is no easy task.  Just getting him into the car requires re-enforcements.  Getting him to the vet early, when my youngest is still sick and my oldest has an early class is trickier.  The girls had to get fed and watered before I left, as I had no idea when I will be back. I had already decided I will not leave Leo alone until he is under.  He would be too scared.  As Monday evening progressed, I felt my throat give way.  Great, the little twerp gave me his flu.  Sleep was crappy and my body ached.  Tuesday’s prospects just got worse! 

Tuesday morning arrived, the alarm clock sounding earlier than usual.  It didn’t matter, I was already awake.  The herbal tea I made the family over the weekend replaced my morning coffee- not bad, no wonder they wanted seconds.  I started getting ready.  As I filled up the water buckets for our new paddock (no tank, remember…) I felt some rain drops.  Great, it’s here early…

Feeling super off, confirming Daniel will be staying home another day while calling Adam to get up (again), I got the car ready.  Feeding the girls always takes a while.  I left it to last, and at that point stopped looking at the time.  Adam will be late for his lesson…
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We were finally ready to get Leo in the car.  As expected, he wouldn’t budge.  Lifting his great big body is never easy, especially with him resisting.  You sort of have to lift his top half, drag him to the car, then nudge his bottom in, and hope it works… (got to love him!)

We were finally on our way, leaving a bewildered and sad Stormy behind.  After a quick school drop-off I headed to the vet.  Chris was waiting for us.  I went to the car, preparing to muzzle Leo, but he jumped out obediently, much to my surprise!  He then trotted off into the clinic and let me weigh him!?  (it’s been forever since that happened, a whopping 50 Kg.  Big boy!)  He then went into the room and waited patiently with me.  I told Chris I thought he was heaps better.  He looked at me.  ‘Check him yourself, you’re the expert’.  He gave Leo a decent all-round check, including his ears.  He pulled off the remaining scab on his foot (much to my horror, what if it’s cancer?), and checked his glands.

Then the moment of truth: ‘to be honest, honesty is always best’, he began.  ‘OH, no, what are you saying?’  ‘I think Leo is looking very good’, he continued.  ‘I was very worried about his leg last time, but it’s all better.  The lump on his jaw seems soft and benign.  I can cut it out and test it, but I am not sure if it’s necessary, for what may just be scar tissue from the bone event.  His ear is inflamed, and needs attention, but I don’t see any reason to put him under today’.  At no point in the scenarios that played in my mind did I see myself returning home with Leo now.  Stormy will be so happy!

And so it was.  I took Leo back to the car, he jumped in with no resistance, and I returned the muzzle to the front desk, unused.  He sat on the seat looking through the window (just a crack, as it was pouring outside) all the way home.  We arrived to find Stormy waiting at the gate in anticipation.  She stuck to Leo like glue as they ran off together.
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I feel physically awful, and taking care of the animals in this rain is hard in these circumstances.  All I want to do is stay dry indoors in front of the fire.  But Leo, my Leo, you are OK!  Your ear will heal, and the rest is mere inconvenience.  My shining bright star!

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